THE WORLD CHANGED ON SEPTEMBER 11, and with it the Bush presidency–but not as much as you may think. True, its priorities shifted dramatically, with the war on terrorism taking precedence over all else. But much of what this presidency has become was there in the beginning–indeed, when George W. Bush, just sworn in as the 43rd president, delivered his inaugural address.
The speech assumed a presidency that would center on domestic issues. Its big theme concerned “our democratic faith,” rooted in freedom, and how we need to live up to it. “While many of our citizens prosper,” Bush said, “others doubt the promise, even the justice of our country.” We need to make America “more” American, he said. And toward that end he declared: “Today we affirm a new commitment to live out our nation’s promise through civility, courage, compassion, and character.” These four Cs provided the basic structure of the address. And in discussing each, the president dealt mainly with matters within our borders.
Bush defined civility as “the determined choice of trust over cynicism, of community over chaos,” and said “this commitment” leads to “shared accomplishment.” Thus must parents “turn the hearts of children toward knowledge and character.”
Regarding courage, Bush said we must show this virtue “in a time of blessing”–note well, he did not say a time of danger–by “confronting problems instead of passing them on to future generations.” The problems he listed first were all here at home–involving education, Social Security, Medicare, and the economy (in need of tax reduction).
Regarding compassion, Bush said we needed this virtue if we were going to address “deep, persistent poverty” and help children at risk and others in “hopeless” situations. He said compassion wasn’t the work just of government but also of the nation, and he hinted at–without declaring its name–his faith-based initiative, so-called because of its reliance on religious charities to provide social services.
The fourth and final C was character, and here Bush discussed “private character” in terms of “personal responsibility,” “civic duty,” “fairness,” “acts of decency,” and even love. Not incidentally, Bush criticized the self-regarding character of his own boomer generation by observing that “we find the fullness of life not only in options, but in commitments,” including those to “children and community.” Recalling a theme of ancient political philosophy, one embraced by the Founders, Bush observed that “our public interest depends on private character.” He asked Americans to seek “a common good beyond your comfort” and “to serve your nation, beginning with your neighbor.”
That was an apt appeal, given the speech’s domestic focus. But when you reread the text today, from this side of 9/11, what stands out are the few passages on national security and foreign affairs.
Of course, it is ironic that Bush said (calling for courage) that “we will build our defenses beyond challenge, lest weakness invite challenge”–for at that time we were weaker than most of us knew, as 9/11 emphatically demonstrated. But Bush also said this: “We will confront weapons of mass destruction, so that a new century is spared new horrors”; and, “We will meet aggression and bad faith with resolve and strength.”
While we know now that terrorists without WMD can bring about horrors, as 9/11 (and 3/11, in Spain) showed, we also know that the president did confront WMD–actually the “bad faith” regarding WMD demonstrated over many years by Saddam Hussein. And he confronted “aggression” with the swift military response in Afghanistan and, more generally, with the development of antiterrorism policies that have included the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.
It’s apparent now that those sentences were a sure indication of the fundamental ways in which the president conceived his responsibility for the nation’s security. Post-9/11 doctrine–including preemption–was built on those foundations.
Bush also said in his first inaugural, “The enemies of liberty and our country should make no mistake: America remains engaged in the world by history and by choice, shaping a balance of power that favors freedom.” Today it would be odd to say, “America remains engaged in the world,” given our very heavy engagement. Yet what bears noting here is how Bush understood our engagement when he took office–in terms of our own history and choice. And in behalf of not just any balance of power–Bush was not a mere realist–but one that sides with freedom.
If you ask why America should favor freedom in the world, Bush actually set forth at least part of the answer in the speech. The president noted that all people are created “equal in His image.” He didn’t digress into a discussion of the rights of nature and nature’s God, as the Declaration of Independence puts it, yet his address obviously assumed the existence of those rights–rights that everyone has simply by virtue of being human. And the speech showed an awareness that in many places around the world people are unable to exercise their rights–they lack what we have and they ought to have, freedom. Bush spoke approvingly of the fact that freedom and democracy are “taking root in many nations.” And he said, “If our country does not lead the cause of freedom, it will not be led.” The implication is that without American leadership, the cause of freedom will wither.
Bush didn’t say that our country should lead the cause of democracy as such. But it’s clear that for him the two causes were entwined. After all, he said that the democratic faith “is the inborn hope of our humanity.” It’s not surprising that after 9/11 Bush should have developed a “forward-strategy of freedom,” as he called it in the fall of 2003, one that seeks the spread of democracy to countries ruled by despots and theocrats.
In his second inaugural, Bush will have the opportunity to sound what have emerged as the great themes of his presidency, those of freedom and democracy. It’s apparent how he might speak of those themes in relation to Iraq and the Middle East generally. But it’s also evident that many of the domestic policies he wants to advance can be framed in terms of freedom–that is, of the freedom of each individual to make certain basic choices, such as how he would like to invest for retirement. Not incidentally, the Bush domestic agenda is about not only freedom but also virtue–indeed, some of the very virtues the president highlighted in his first inaugural. The “Ownership Society,” as he has described it, contemplates an America in which individuals are less dependent on government and more self-reliant, more involved in their communities.
Bush is now halfway through a presidency that aspires to greatness in part because of events of world-historical magnitude, but in part, too, because of his convictions and ambition. As one White House aide told me, “The president doesn’t like small ball.” That’s why, notwithstanding all the big balls now in play, it might be wise to prepare for another one or two to be thrown in.
Terry Eastland is publisher of The Weekly Standard.
